Javier Bardem takes on the role of the villain made famous by Robert De Niro. How he built his character in the new 'Cape Fear'
Javier Bardem was inspired by the behavior of wild animals to play the sadistic torturer in the film “Cape Fear”, a role previously played in the cinema by Robert De Niro and Robert Mitchum and which now returns to the public's attention in a TV series, informs AFP, according to Agerpres.
“There's a menace, there's that animal component to the Max Cady character that's always been there, that's very physical,” actor Javier Bardem said in a press conference ahead of the TV series' release Friday on the Apple TV platform.
“But it also has to be attractive. It has to be something you can't take your eyes off of and at the same time can attack you when you least expect it,” added the 57-year-old Spanish star.
Amy Adams: “I love this contradiction”
Javier Bardem made Max Cady “a patient predator”, his co-star in the new TV production Amy Adams has revealed.
The 51-year-old American actress plays Anna Bowden, who becomes, along with her husband Tom (Patrick Wilson) and their two children, the target of Max Cady's wrath, several years after he was imprisoned for the murder of his own wife.
For this role, Amy Adams was inspired by the actresses of the Golden Age of Hollywood.
“I always go back a little bit to the classic actresses, how they could find the balance between extreme femininity and a will, an iron tenacity,” she explained.
“I think that's just part of the way I like to see women, 'strong' and 'gentle' at the same time, I love that contradiction,” added the American star.
The plot of “Cape Fear” is based on the novel “The Executioners”, published in 1957 by John D. MacDonald. It has already been adapted twice for the cinema, in 1962 by J. Lee Thompson, then in 1991 in the form of a remake directed by Martin Scorsese, which deeply impressed the public.
In fact, Martin Scorsese is also executive producer, along with Steven Spielberg, of the new TV series created by Nick Antosca.
Going from a two-hour movie to a 10-episode TV series allowed the production team to create additional twists, Nick Antosca revealed.
Among the news: the TV series makes the murder trial of the character Max Cady a central element of the plot. Because in this version Anna Bowden is his lawyer and during that hearing she met the prosecutor who would become her husband.
“The life of this family and their happiness is entirely built on the suffering of Max Cady. He is not a tangential and forgotten acquaintance from their past. The husband, as well as the wife, were involved in the process (…), they got married because of that process. They had children thanks to that process”, elaborated Nick Antosca.
“'Cape Fear' depicts the destruction of a family that feels safe by a monster (…), which finds invisible vulnerabilities on the surface,” continued the creator of the TV series.
The television format also allowed the production team to give more depth to the character of Max Cady, benefiting from more time to show the evolution of his anger.
“I wanted the audience to be able to sometimes sympathize with him and at other times be terrified of him,” said Nick Antosca on the red carpet at the Los Angeles preview of this TV production.
